The 152nd Open: Who can still qualify for Royal Troon with strong finish at Genesis Scottish Open?

PGA Tour winners, Ryder Cup hopefuls and a former world No 1 are among the names looking to earn a last-minute invite to The Open at the Genesis Scottish Open.

The field is almost set for The Open, live from July 18 on Sky Sports Golf, with this week’s co-sanctioned event at The Renaissance Club the last chance to secure a place at the final men’s major of the year.

Davis Thompson and CT Pan were the latest to book their spots after finishing first and tied-second respectively on Sunday at the John Deere Classic, part of the Open Qualifying Series, taking the projected field for Royal Troon to 156 players.

The final spots will go to the three leading players who make the cut this week and are not already exempt for The Open, but who needs to impress at the Rolex Series event to be part of next week’s major field?

Cam Davis is the highest-ranked player not currently in The Open, despite winning on the PGA Tour at the Rocket Mortgage Classic a fortnight ago, with the world No 39 outside the world’s top 50 when that exemption criteria was used earlier in the season.

Davis Riley won the Charles Schwab Challenge earlier this season but still isn’t in The Open field, while Luke List, Lee Hodges and Erik Van Rooyen are among last year’s winners on the PGA Tour who aren’t currently involved in next week’s major.

England’s Aaron Rai – the 2021 Scottish Open champion – has four top-20 finishes in his last six PGA Tour starts without yet securing a major invite, while world No 52 Thomas Detry – who contended at the PGA Championship and US Open – also still needing to qualify.

2018 Ryder Cup winner Alex Noren and current captain Luke Donald, the former world No 1, are both in this week’s field looking to feature in The Open next week, with Ireland’s Seamus Power aiming to qualify for a third successive season.

There’s a strong Scottish contingent in action, with Calum Hill, Connor Syme, Grant Forrest, Scott Jamieson and Richie Ramsay all looking to follow Ewen Ferguson’s win at the BMW International Open last week and book their major qualification on home soil.

In the event of a tie for a qualifying place, the player with the higher ranking in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) at the beginning of the week commencing 1 July will be awarded a place in The Open.

Six of the world’s top seven are part of a star-studded field in Scotland this week, with Rory McIlroy returning as defending champion after last year’s one-shot victory over Robert MacIntyre and reigning PGA champion Xander Schauffele also back at the event he won in 2022.

Brian Harman is in action ahead of his title defence of the Claret Jug, with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay the only eligible players inside the world’s top 15 not scheduled to tee it up the week before The Open.

Watch the Genesis Scottish Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday with Featured Groups from 8.30am on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 1pm.

Sky Sports is once again the home of The 152nd Open, with round-the-clock action on Sky Sports Golf and live coverage from all seven days of tournament week at Royal Troon. Live coverage from the opening day begins from 6.30am on Thursday July 18. Stream the PGA Tour, majors and more with NOW.